Bearing Witness

Continuation of journal for Monday, October 22 - Maureen Lopes

If you pay attention to homes where a FEMA white mobile home sits in the front yard, you know that the home is inhabitable. And other homes on the street are more noticeably empty. It is emotionally devastating when one family loses its home to fire or flood but where do you find the strength to rebuild when your neighborhood and entire community is affected by the same disaster? Watching people fleeing their homes in southern California is the same community-wide pain.

After we crossed Lake Pontchartrain on Route 11 (the older bridge that did not sustain damage) Lindsay directed us south toward the area of Chalmette, along the Mississippi River, around the bend from the French Quarter. When the storm surge receded from Slidell, pulling cars, homes and peoples' lives into the Lake, the force "boomeranged" toward New Orleans. This force was one of the reasons that the levees were breached.

Chalmette, and the Ninth Ward next to it, are where the most terrible pictures of the rising waters were taken and broadcast to the nation. We traveled down streets of mostly ranch homes sitting on concrete slabs, barely above sea level. It was not a ghost town - even along the flooding streets there was steady car traffic. A few homes, here and there, had FEMA trailers in the front yard. But most homes had sprayed painted symbols on the front - the date the house was visited by a rescuing team, which team went through the house, whether animals were found and where bodies were found. Block after block after block.

The homes in the Ninth Ward, were in general, in worse shape prior to the levees breaking and neighborhoods seemed emptier. The sheer size of the affected areas is hard to grasp but seared in our minds and hearts.

Two bright points - (1) We passed a Home Depot that was able to reopen after the waters receded by bringing in their own trailers into their parking lot and providing housing and salaries to their employees. They helped both their employees and the local area with much needed supplies. (2) Habitat in New Orleans has rebuilt an entire block with support from musicians from around the country.

The controversy goes on whether these low lying neighborhoods should be rebuilt or people be bought out to live in safer areas. The decisions are so wrenging, and fraught with political, historical and racial tensions, that progress seems slow.